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USDA: ONLY 17% OF LAND IS USED FOR CROPLAND, LISTS OTHER USES
Nov. 11, 2026
Source: USDA news release
Grassland pasture and range remained the largest single category of land use in the United States in 2022, accounting for nearly 29 percent of the nation's 2.3 billion acres of land. Forest-use land represented the next-largest share at just over 27 percent, reflecting land used primarily for commercial timber and forest-related activities. Cropland, including land actively used for crops, idled cropland, and cropland used for pasture, accounted for nearly 17 percent of the national land base. Together, these land use categories comprised nearly 73 percent of all U.S. land area.
The remaining portion of U.S. land was divided among several smaller categories. Special-use areas--including rural parks and wildlife areas, defense installations, and rural transportation facilities--accounted for about 14 percent of total acreage. Miscellaneous other land, which includes land in marshes, swamps, deserts, tundra, and other built environments (e.g., cemeteries, golf courses, quarries), made up roughly 10 percent. Urban land represented under 3 percent of the total land base.
The distribution of land among these major categories changes slowly from year to year, reflecting both the stability of large-scale land uses and the important role that agriculture and forest resources continue to play in the U.S. landscape.
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